1. History

In 1849, Würtz was the first to use a reaction between a glycol and an isocyanate, but it was Otto BAYER, in 1937, who discovered how to transform the resulting product into a usable plastic.

This material was first used in times of war and blockade to obtain substitutes for synthetic fibers (nylon in particular) and natural rubber (see Box 1 ). Then, when the expansion reaction between water and isocyanate was demonstrated, the chemical industry quickly obtained rigid and flexible foams. Under the impetus of American (DuPont de Nemours, Wyandotte) and European (Bayer, ICI, etc.) companies, developments for the manufacture of rigid and flexible foam blocks and molded parts based on TDI isocyanate gained in importance.

Box 1 – Terminology

Polyurethanes are a family of polycondensates originally intended...

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History

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page Polyurethanes PUR

Materials

(1) - BAYER - Production de mousses polyuréthanes (PUR) rigides - PU21012_fr.pdf (30/06/2004).
(2) - LEPPKES (R.) - Polyurethanes [elastogran] – 2000 - Materials...

Database – Websites

Publication Crain Communication Ltd (UTECH conference publications) – Years 1996 to 2008

http://www.urethanes-technology.com/
Isopa website publications

Organizations – Federations – Associations

This list is by no means exhaustive.

Alliance for the polyurethane industry

http://www.polyurethane.org/s_api/index.asp
French Plastics Federation

http://www.laplasturgie.fr
...

Exhibitions – Conventions – Training courses

Suppliers of materials or machines (possibly abroad). Non-exhaustive information.

Compositec

http://www.compositec.com/
Europlast (Paris)
JEC (Paris)
K' (Kunssttoff) (Düsseldorf...

Standards and norms

Raw materials
- Base materials for polyurethanes – Polyethers, polyesters, isocyanates – List of test methods – Summary standard. – Classification number: T52-100. - NF T52-100 - Août 1980
- Plastics – Polyols for polyurethane production – Water dosing. - ISO 14897 - Juin 2002
- Plastics – Base materials for polyurethanes – Polyethers and polyesters – Water dosing. Classification...